Fitness preparations, a cautionary tale
As I sat down to write my first blog I found myself looking back at my eventing career and one thought led to another and another ...
I started out my senior eventing career with an absolute cracker of a horse. Phoenix was a 15.3h TB who I was the same age as me, by Becason who was by super sire Hyperion. When I was fifteen I kind of stole him from my mother who had been showing, jumping and eventing him with good success.
Back then dressage was something you had to get through but it didn’t really matter because whatever your score was, if you could go fast and clear cross country the chances were you would finish in the top three. That’s not to say I didn’t put the effort in on the circle work. I was fortunate to live next door to Tasmania’s newest riding centre ‘Cheval Equitation’ and became good friends with Luiz and Jo Menzies with Luiz spending many a frustrated hour working on our basics.
I decided to go to Gawler
If you can picture Tasmania in the late 70’s, while the eventing scene was healthy there wasn’t much experience to call upon. In 1979, having just turned 17 I decided to have a crack at the Gawler 3 Day Event. I did some research and saw that this 3 day event caper was a bit different from our standard 6 minute one day event. The endurance phase comprised of two sections of trotting roads and tracks of about 8km each separated by a 3.6km gallop steeplechase. These were followed by a 10 minute break, just time to fit studs, have a quick smoke and a nervous toilet visit then the actual cross country was 6,800 metres, apparently with some very long hills.
OK, so we had to get fit, fitter than we have ever been … better do some more research. I looked for books on eventing and decided the best place to get advice was from Sheila Wilcox, three times Badminton winner. I read somewhere in Sheila’s book that she did 25 miles of fitness work on High and Mighty and somehow I got it into my brain that this was a daily routine.
I was guided by the words of Shelia Wilcox –
but maybe I should have read the book a little more carefully
I dutifully mapped out a fitness track down the Southern Outlet towards Hobart, back over the hills towards home then up the Huon Highway through Leslie Vale to Sandfly and then back home again, galloping where I could and trotting where I had to. This figure 8 circuit took about 2 ½ hours and meant starting at 5am so I could get to school in time.
So, how did my first Gawler go? All the Tassie riders piled into John Cooney’s old Bedford and with Vern Poke at the wheel we set sail across the Bass Straight and then on to Adelaide. I walked the course and remember thinking it was impossible. Then when I heard the first horse had finished I thought OK, if they can do it then so can we.
We set off on our first roads and tracks around the bitumen streets of Gawler with a pre rolled drum behind each ear and Kanga Parham’s stern warning of elimination if we set one foot on the softer gravel footpath. I got to the Steeple Chase with Phoenix as usual pulling my skinny little arms out of their sockets. The chase was on the sand gallop track around the Gawler Racecourse. We set off at probably just a bit more than the required 690 mpm, got a good first jump and then stood off over a stride away from the second, caught it with one knee and landed on our side a good stride after it. I got up, a little winded, untangled the reins from his front legs and then remembering that you were eliminated for being just 20% over time I got back on and galloped, coming in two seconds under time.
Here we are at Gawler in 1979 … how things have changed
The second roads and tracks started again on the bitumen streets but then headed on to the gravel road looping up the hill behind the cross country, plenty of time to enjoy that second ciggy. We came into the ‘10 minute box which was just a roped off area with a portaloo. Because of all the bitumen we had put low profile bolts in the stud holes so they had to come out and big studs go in to help cope with the slippery red mud. All this with a very fit, strong and excitable thoroughbred was not fun.
We got the studs done just in time to allow me a quick visit to the portaloo then off to the start. Again we got a great first fence in and I was sure not to stand off at the second, a diagonal trakhener over a big ditch. In fact I was so careful that we added a stride, got too close, slid in and flipped over it. Oh well, climb back on board and kick on. Again we finished under time and I reckon Phoenix could have gone around again. Me? No chance - they actually had oxygen at the end of the cross country for the horses but I felt much more in need of it than my horse. To put it bluntly I was like Wallaby Ted’s brother, Roo Ted!
So did my first fitness prep do the job? Well for the horse it did, for me not so great. I there and then decided to give up smoking and take my own fitness as seriously as my horses. I also decided that 25 miles a day was perhaps just a little overboard. We will talk about our next Gawler next month.
Wild Oats and I tackle the Melbourne 3DE CCI3* earlier this year
- hopefully I know a little more now than I did then
Fitness is such an important element of our sport and for me it is a tragedy that while we have some of the greatest event riders the World has seen, no where have we captured the vital information on what their fitness programs are, what has worked for certain types of horses and for particular events and what hasn’t worked.
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Benjamin Franklin
Keep a look out for some headcam footage from Seurmas at the recent Friends of Werribee event, which we'll put up in the next few days where Wild Oats looks pretty fit to us!
